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Nintendo developing games with collectible toys

Japanese video game giant Nintendo president Satoru Iwata arrives at a conference to announce the company's business strategy in Tokyo on January 30. Iwata vowed Thursday to stick to the company's old ways, refusing to resign or cut product prices despite its dismal earnings, but said the video game maker will enter the health care industry.(Photo: Yoshikazu Tsuno, Getty Images)

It appears Nintendo might follow in the footsteps of Skylanders and Disney Infinity.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata revealed the company will launch collectible figurines with near-field communication (NFC) capabilities that will work with video games. Iwata discussed the platform as part of a presentation of Nintendo's fiscal year earnings report Wednesday.

The collectible Nintendo figures will work on multiple titles, available first on the Wii U home console later this year followed by Nintendo's 3DS handheld.

The GamePad, the Wii U's tablet controller, boasts built-in support for NFC, allowing figurines to interact directly with the device. Iwata says similar capabilities will appear on the 3DS in "the first half of the next calendar year."

Slides accompanying the presentation feature a collectible Mario figure as one of the examples. Iwata says more details will be revealed during next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

The combination of video games and collectible toys has surged in popularity since the launch of Activision's Skylanders franchise in 2011. The series has generated $2 billion for the publisher. Meanwhile, Disney Infinity finished among the top 10 selling console video games of 2013, according to data from NPD Group.

Nintendo boasts arguably one of the most beloved rosters of video game characters, including Mario, Luigi and Link from The Legend of Zelda franchise.

The toy platform is part of Nintendo's growing efforts to ignite interest in the Wii U, which has failed to entice consumers. Last quarter, the company sold 310,000 Wii U video game consoles worldwide.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg, Iwata said the company plans to expand to emerging markets next year. Instead of releasing current hardware in emerging markets, Nintendo will create new devices specifically for those audiences, says Iwata.